Recreational vehicle promoter GoRVing is modifying one of its popular videos after being warned this week the clip was advocating potentially lethal behaviour.
Auto journalist Jil McIntosh first alerted me to a TV ad called Wildhood, part of a “Bring back Wildhood” campaign designed by Toronto’s dougserge + partners. The video highlights the back-to-nature, back-to-family possibilities of taking your next family holiday in a recreation vehicle. A half-minute in, a scene depicts a young woman lounging in the passenger seat of the rig — her feet propped up comfortably on the dash.
Ask Bethany Benson why no one should ever do that.
This woman was brave enough to talk to Driving a few months ago about her catastrophic decision to do just that one day.
Required Reading: A grave reminder not to put your feet up on the dashboard
As she slept in the passenger seat and her boyfriend drove, their car crashed into the back of a suddenly stopped semi. Her body was shattered, and so was her life. Bethany’s injuries were compounded by airbags going off and crushing her hamstrings into her face, and then by a compromised seating position. The seatbelt was unable to do its job correctly and her lower body wasn’t in the part of the car – the front cage – designed to crumple and protect the occupant in the event of a front end crash.
Bethany Benson’s crashed car. Her feet were on the dashboard when this happened and the crash has changed her life forever.
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Airbags, which some Class C RVs are equipped with, are always a consideration. When they explode at 320 km/h, they’re not big fluffy slow-motion pillows — they’re more like safety weapons. They have a job to do and they do it well, but nothing should be in their way, including legs and feet.
RVs differ from cars in many ways: In the event of a crash, countless more items can become projectiles – unsecured passengers, backpacks, kitchen appliances, pets, you name it. A crash will bring a vehicle from 100 km/h to zero in an instant, but all those objects keep moving at 100 km/h. Because RVing (a form of vacationing I have enjoyed) encourages bringing all the comforts of home on the road, it already has its own special safety considerations. Seeing a crash test of an RV is jarring. Watch this.
But feet on the dashboard, as the GoRVing video depicts, is serious enough that. When Driving brought the matter to its attention via Twitter and emails this week, the group decided to change it.
“We recognize the concerns that were pointed out to us, and we are moving forward with a revision of the Wildhood ad,” GoRVing said an emailed statement. “We are looking forward to shifting the conversation back to helping Canadians reconnect with their Wildhoods.”
Bethany Benson will be happy to shift the conversation back, too. This is why she asked Postmedia’s Driving to tell her story: to make others aware, and to start a discussion that needs to take place. This isn’t just about individuals — this is also about responsible advertising.
Watch the Wildhood clip below. The feet on dash segment is at the 32 second mark.
